Work Song | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1960 | |||
Recorded | January 25 & 27, 1960 | |||
Genre | Jazz, hard bop | |||
Label | Riverside | |||
Nat Adderley chronology | ||||
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Work Song is an album by jazz cornetist Nat Adderley, recorded in January 1960 and released on the Riverside label. It features Adderley with Bobby Timmons, Wes Montgomery, Sam Jones, Percy Heath, Keter Betts and Louis Hayes in various combinations from a trio to a sextet, with the unusual sound of pizzicato cello to the fore on some tracks. [1]
The title tune was given lyrics and covered the following year by Oscar Brown Jr. on his album Sin And Soul...and then some and has become a standard in both vocal and instrumental forms. It has also been covered in French by Claude Nougaro as "Sing Sing song".
The album is recognised as one of Adderley's finest. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars, calling it a "near-classic" and stating: "Nat Adderley is heard throughout in peak form, playing quite lyrically. Highly recommended". [2] The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, stating: "Work Song is the real classic, of course, laced with a funky blues feel but marked by some unexpectedly lyrical playing." [3] Colin Larkin awarded the album 4 stars (excellent) in The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music, stating: "…a brilliant amalgam of the soul jazz…". [4]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [3] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [5] |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of 60s Music | [4] |
All compositions by Nat Adderley except where noted.
William Thomas "Keter" Betts was an American jazz double bassist.
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco is a 1959 album by The Cannonball Adderley Quintet.
Them Dirty Blues is an album by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, recorded in 1960.
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet at the Lighthouse is a live album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released on the Riverside label featuring a performance by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Victor Feldman, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes.
Plus is an album by Cannonball Adderley Quintet released on the Riverside label featuring performances by Adderley with Nat Adderley, Wynton Kelly, Victor Feldman, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes.
Jazz Workshop Revisited is a live album by the jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley released on the Riverside label. Alongside Adderley, it features performances by Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones and Louis Hayes. It was recorded at the Jazz Workshop in San Francisco on September 22 & 23, 1962
African Waltz is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, released on the Riverside label and performed by Adderley with an orchestra conducted by Ernie Wilkins. The title track had been a UK hit single for Johnny Dankworth.
Pyramid is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California in 1974 featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet with Nat Adderley, Hal Galper, Walter Booker and Roy McCurdy with guest appearances by Phil Upchurch, George Duke, and Jimmy Jones.
Phenix is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley recorded in 1975 at the Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California, featuring performances by Adderley's Quintet with Nat Adderley, keyboardist Michael Wolff, bassist Walter Booker and drummer Roy McCurdy with guest percussionist Airto Moreira and past Quintet members keyboardist George Duke, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes guesting on select tracks. The program essentially consists of energetic new arrangements of the Quintet's best known pieces from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, including Nat Adderley's “Work Song”.
The Complete Riverside Recordings is a box set of American jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery's early recordings on the Riverside label. It is a twelve-CD box set and was released in 1992. It contains 157 songs and includes 15 previously unissued performances, six re-edited versions of previously issued numbers and 29 alternate takes. The extensive liner notes by producer Orrin Keepnews and Jim Ferguson, session notes, and photographs. Keepnews and Ferguson received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Album Notes.
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Workin' Out! is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1964 and released in 1965 on the Prestige label.
The Soul Society is the debut album by bassist and cellist Sam Jones featuring performances recorded in early 1960 and originally released on the Riverside label.
The Chant is the second album by bassist and cellist Sam Jones featuring performances recorded in early 1961 and originally released on the Riverside label.
The Sound of the Wide Open Spaces!!!! is the debut album by American saxophonist/flautist James Clay and the second album by David "Fathead" Newman featuring performances recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Riverside label.
A Double Dose of Soul is the second album by saxophonist/flautist James Clay featuring performances recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Riverside label.
Really Big! is the second album by saxophonist Jimmy Heath featuring big band performances recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Riverside label.
White Gardenia is an album by jazz saxophonist Johnny Griffin with brass and strings which was recorded in 1961 and released on the Riverside label. Intended as a tribute album to jazz singer Billie Holiday, who had died two years earlier, she had sung all of the songs, except for the title track, which is the only original composition by Griffin on the album. The white gardenia was the flower Holiday often wore in her hair. The orchestral arrangements were written by Melba Liston and Norman Simmons.
"Work Song" is a work song and jazz standard by American trumpeter Nat Adderley and writer Oscar Brown Jr. It was first featured in Adderley's 1960 studio album of the same name, which was met with high praise and acclaim. "Work Song" is one of Adderley's best known compositions.